April 30, 2016

Stacking the Shelves (55): March & April

Stacking the Shelves is a meme hosted by Tynga´s Reviews, which showcases the books we've purchased, won, borrowed and received in the mail. 

These are the books I got in the months of March & April.

BOUGHT
FOR MY KINDLE
The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma
The Wrath and the Dawn (The Wrath and the Dawn #1) by Renee Ahdieh
Wolf By Wolf (Wolf By Wolf #1) by Ryan Graudin

 
Dumplin' by Julie Murphy
The Serpent King by Jeff Zentner

Oblivion (Lux #1.5) by Jennifer L. Armentrout
Gideon's Spear (The Adventures of Finn MacCullen #2) by Darby Karchut
The Hound at the Gate (The Adventures of Finn MacCullen #3) by Darby Karchut

 To Sir Phillip, With Love (Bridgertons #5) by Julia Quinn
When He Was Wicked (Bridgertons #6) by Julia Quinn
It's in His Kiss (Bridgertons #7) by Julia Quinn

Size 12 Is Not Fat (Heather Wells #1) by Meg Cabot

It Had to Be You (Chicago Stars #1) by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Heaven, Texas (Chicago Stars #2) by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
After I Do by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Tempted by Fire (Dragons of Bloodfire #1) by Erin Kellison
Broken Juliet (Starcrssed #2) by Leisa Rayven

What books did you get?
Leave me your link in the comments.

April 29, 2016

Review: The Gray Wolf Throne by Cinda Williams Chima


Title: The Gray Wolf Throne (Seven Realms #3)
Author: Cinda Williams Chima
Publisher: Hyperion Books
Release date: August 30th 2011

Rating: 5/5

Buy onAmazon | B&N | BookDepository

You can read my review of The Demon King here & The Exiled Queen here
Han Alister thought he had already lost everyone he loved. But when he finds his friend Rebecca Morley near death in the Spirit Mountains, Han knows that nothing matters more than saving her. The costs of his efforts are steep, but nothing can prepare him for what he soon discovers: the beautiful, mysterious girl he knew as Rebecca is none other than Raisa ana’Marianna, heir to the Queendom of the Fells. Han is hurt and betrayed. He knows he has no future with a blueblood. And, as far as he’s concerned, the princess’s family as good as killed his own mother and sister. But if Han is to fulfill his end of an old bargain, he must do everything in his power to see Raisa crowned queen.

Meanwhile, some people will stop at nothing to prevent Raisa from ascending. With each attempt on her life, she wonders how long it will be before her enemies succeed. Her heart tells her that the thief-turned-wizard Han Alister can be trusted. She wants to believe it—he’s saved her life more than once. But with danger coming at her from every direction, Raisa can only rely on her wits and her iron-hard will to survive—and even that might not be enough.

The Gray Wolf Throne is an epic tale of fierce loyalty, unbearable sacrifice, and the heartless hand of fate. 

The Gray Wolf Throne is the third book in the Seven Realms series and the plot gets better with each book, since identities are revealed, romances begin, romances conclude, friendships are strengthened, and enemies and betrayal everywhere.

Poor Raisa, she´s the Crown Princess of her Queendom, but she had to flee to the academy Oden´s Ford and had to use the alias of Rebecca,because she was escaping a forced marriage, but after a year in exile she returned to her Queendom, but there are many people that want her dead so that she would not come to inherit the throne, since due to politics many would prefer that she died and her younger sister Melony inherited, while the clans will do everything to prevent this from happening, because it´s beneficial for them that she become Queen. So if things do not improve her people will go into civil war. So Raisa will do everything possible with the help of her allies to return alive to the capital.

Meanwhile Han is bound by the deal he made with the clans to help them in what they need, and when they do call him back after a year of study at the Academy of wizards at Oden´s Ford, he must return. But when he comes back home, he also intends to search his girlfriend Rebecca, which mysteriously disappeared from the academy and when he finally finds learns her true identity, he will have to decide what to do with this new knowledge.

Another highlight in story, is that finally is revealed the true identity of Crow in this book, he´s Han´s tutor that he meets in Aediion.

I highly recommend The Seven Kingdoms series, it´s a MUST READ! It´s an excellent epic fantasy series.

April 28, 2016

Review: The Mirror King by Jodi Meadows


Title: The Mirror King (The Orphan Queen #2)
Author: Jodi Meadows
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Release date: April 5th 2016
Source: Edelweiss
Format: eARC

Rating: 3.5/5

Buy onAmazon | B&N | BookDepository

You can read my review of The Orphan Queen - here
Wilhelmina has a hundred enemies.

HER FRIENDS HAVE TURNED. After her identity is revealed during the Inundation, Princess Wilhelmina is kept prisoner by the Indigo Kingdom, with the Ospreys lost somewhere in the devastated city. When the Ospreys’ leader emerges at the worst possible moment, leaving Wil’s biggest ally on his deathbed, she must become Black Knife to set things right.

HER MAGIC IS UNCONTROLLABLE. Wil’s power is to animate, not to give true life, but in the wraithland she commanded a cloud of wraith mist to save herself, and later ordered it solid. Now there is a living boy made of wraith—destructive and deadly, and willing to do anything for her.

HER HEART IS TORN. Though she’s ready for her crown, declaring herself queen means war. Caught between what she wants and what is right, Wilhelmina realizes the throne might not even matter. Everyone thought the wraith was years off, but already it’s destroying Indigo Kingdom villages. If she can’t protect both kingdoms, soon there won’t be a land to rule.

In this stunning conclusion to THE ORPHAN QUEEN, Jodi Meadows follows Wilhelmina’s breathtaking and brave journey from orphaned criminal on the streets to magic-wielding queen.

I must confess that after the cliffhanger of The Orphan Queen, I needed to read the first chapters of The Mirror King immediately after I finish the previous book, because I needed to know what happened, but once I sate my curiosity, I read some other books, because I didn´t want to read them back to back.

After what happened in the previous book Wilhemina is as "guest" in the Skyvale castle in the Indigo Kingdom, due to this she´s constantly under surveillance, since almost everyone in the kingdom distrust her, having as her only ally King Tobias, to some extent, because he does not trust her completely, as both continue to keep secrets from each other, as they both always think first for the sake of their kingdoms, despite their friendship and something more between them.

And because during the Inundation it was revealed that the true identity of Wilhemina and also in her attempt to save the kingdom of the wraith (a toxic product caused by the use of magic), she created without knowing how a boy made of wraith, it only obeys Wil and does everything she says or wants, even if she did not vocalize her desires, which is dangerous for all those around her, so for this reason, more and more people distrust her.

On the other hand Wil also wants to claim her Kingdom, now that everyone know that she´s the crown princess of the Kingdom of Aecor, but it will not be easy, as there are people that will do everything to stop her.

Wil is a young orphan princess, who had led a hard life along with her group of friends, the Osprey, which like her, are orphans, royals from their fallen Kingdom and along with them she had led a life of crime as they prepare to regain their kingdom, but Wil also likes to help others, so in the absence of Black Knife, she ends up helping wherever she can, so that at night she escapes the palace to patrol the streets as a vigilante. Meanwhile the wraithland continues to progress and threatens to destroy their world.

The Mirror King is the second book and conclusion of The Orphan Queen duology, where the use of magic is paid dearly. I liked this book more than the previous one and it has a good ending, although it´s a little open for my liking.

April 26, 2016

Top 5 Bookworm Delights

Top Ten Tuesday is an original feature/weekly meme created bThe Broke and the Bookish

Top 5 Bookworm Delights
(in no particular order)

Perusing books: Either online or in a bookstore I really enjoy discovering new books (to me).

To share my love for books with my daughters: My older daughter (middle schooler) had been reading for fun since 2012 and so far she had read 140 books and my younger daughter (elementary schooler) likes to read too, she loves Judy Moody books.

When I give a book as a gift and that person actually read it: This past Christmas I gave Percy Jackson and the lighting thief to my niece, and shortly after she told me that she really like it and that it was so different from the movie.

Talking with someone who likes to read the same books I do/likes the same genre: I like to talk with my sister-in-law about books (she´s the one that sort of reintroduce me to reading books for fun), and I also talk about books with my daughter and niece; it´s nice to talk face-to-face with someone about my love for books.

Rereading favorite parts of a book I loved or skip read an old time favorite: This is something I do between books or when I´m on a reading slump.

What are your bookworm delights?
Leave me your link in the comments.

April 20, 2016

Waiting On Wednesday: City of the Lost

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

The book I´m waiting this week is
City of the Lost (Casey Duncan #1) by Kelley Armstrong
Release date: May 3rd 2016
Casey Duncan once killed a man and got away with it. But that’s not why she’s on the run. Her best friend Diana’s ex has found her again, despite all Casey has done to protect her. And Diana has decided the only way she’ll ever be safe is if she finds a mythical town that will hide people like her. Turns out the town exists, and it will take Diana, but only if Casey, a talented young police detective, comes along.

Imagine a secret town, isolated in the Yukon wilderness, deliberately cut off from the world, where everyone is pretending to be someone they’re not. Even good people can get up to some very bad stuff.

What book are you waiting this week?
Leave your WOW links

April 18, 2016

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a meme hosted by Book Date.
Each week we spotlight the books we are reading, planning on reading or just finished reading.

Click on the image to look description in Goodreads.

Finished reading
The Mirror King (The Orphan Queen #2) by Jodi Meadows (3.5 or 4/5 stars)

The Gray Wolf Throne (Seven Realms #3) by Cinda Williams Chima  (4.5 or 5/5 stars)
Currently reading
The Mistake (Off-Campus #2) by Elle Kennedy

What I´m going to read next?
The Crimson Crown (Seven Realms #4) by Cinda Williams Chima 

What are you reading today?
Leave me your links!

April 16, 2016

Review: The Orphan Queen by Jodi Meadows


Title: The Orphan Queen (The Orphan Queen #1)
Author: Jodi Meadows 
Publisher: Katherine Tegen Books
Release date: September 7th 2010

Rating: 3.5/5

Buy onAmazon | B&N | BookDepository
Wilhelmina has a hundred identities.

She is a princess. When the Indigo Kingdom conquered her homeland, Wilhelmina and other orphaned children of nobility were taken to Skyvale, the Indigo Kingdom’s capital. Ten years later, they are the Ospreys, experts at stealth and theft. With them, Wilhelmina means to take back her throne.

She is a spy. Wil and her best friend, Melanie, infiltrate Skyvale Palace to study their foes. They assume the identities of nobles from a wraith-fallen kingdom, but enemies fill the palace, and Melanie’s behavior grows suspicious. With Osprey missions becoming increasingly dangerous and their leader more unstable, Wil can’t trust anyone.

She is a threat. Wraith is the toxic by-product of magic, and for a century using magic has been forbidden. Still the wraith pours across the continent, reshaping the land and animals into fresh horrors. Soon it will reach the Indigo Kingdom. Wilhelmina’s magic might be the key to stopping the wraith, but if the vigilante Black Knife discovers Wil’s magic, she will vanish like all the others

Jodi Meadows introduces a vivid new fantasy full of intrigue, romance, dangerous magic, and one girl’s battle to reclaim her place in the world.

The Orphan Queen is an epic fantasy novel that has romance, friendship, intrigue, secrets, betrayal and some action.

Wilhelmina is a princess who lives along other teenagers from the royalty of the Kingdom of Aecor, which was conquered 10 years ago, now she and her small group live in the capital of the Kingdom of Indigo (the kingdom that conquered the Kingdom of Aecor, murderer all royalty, but let the children alive), there they live from stealing and small jobs while they prepare to regain their kingdom with Wilhelmina as their queen. To achieve this Wilhemina and her best friend Melanie infiltrate in Skyvale Palace posing as royalty of the Kingdom of Liadia, (a recently destroyed kingdom) where they will try to gather information that will help them regain their kingdom,

Wil live in a world where magic exists, but its use has a price, which is reflected in wraith, which is toxic magic that focuses on a place known as wraithland, the wraith changes everything it touches, whether is flora, fauna or human... lethally, (they become any monster imaginable) and over the years it has been moving and devouring realms, so the magic is prohibited in all the remaining kingdoms.

Wil's romantic interest is Black Knife, a vigilante young man, dressed in black, he always wear mask, so during most of story his identity is unknown.

Overall, I did enjoyed The Orphan Queen, it´s a good fantasy book, I liked the idea that magic create a toxic spectrum, since in both books and movies it has always been said that the use of a magic has a price and in this to some extent it´s something visible, something that it can be seen how it grows and how it threats their world.

April 15, 2016

Review: Flawed by Cecelia Ahern

Title: Flawed (Flawed #1)
Author: Cecelia Ahern
Publisher: Feiwel and Friends
Release date: April 5th 2016
Source: Netgalley
Format: eARC

Rating: 3.5/5

Buy onAmazon | B&N | BookDepository
Celestine North lives a perfect life. She's a model daughter and sister, she's well-liked by her classmates and teachers, and she's dating the impossibly charming Art Crevan.

But then Celestine encounters a situation where she makes an instinctive decision. She breaks a rule. And now faces life-changing repercussions.

She could be imprisoned. She could be branded. She could be found FLAWED.
In her breathtaking young adult debut, bestselling author Cecelia Ahern depicts a society where obedience is paramount and rebellion is punished. And where one young woman decides to take a stand that could cost her-everything. 

This is the first novel I´ve read written by Cecelia Ahern, it´s her Young Adult debut and I did enjoyed it.

The story unfolds in a country where the people morally defective is punished as it is expected to have a society that is morally perfect. Taking a bad decision, lying, being disloyal, get out of line with society, etc., if a person is found guilty of being defective or flawed in court, the person is marked with a hot iron with the letter F to indicate that he/she is flawed besides he or she lose certain "privileges" to live his/her faulty life. Besides this, to help or aid a flawed person is considered a crime which could result in jail.

Celestine is a 17-year-old girl that lives in this country and believes in the system, she's dating Art Crevan, the only son of Judge Crevan, the main judge of the Flawed court, a man feared by many, but to her he´s only Bosco, her neighbor and father of her boyfriend. Celestine is a smart girl with good grades, she follows all the rules, is very logical in her thinking and never interferes with the system until after a series of events that shake her life, then soon after she makes a mistake that could result with her being marked as flawed because in the system there isn´t second chances.

Flawed is a dystopian novel that takes place in a world where the morally defective citizens are branded with the letter F. The story is slow-paced but it get's interesting as the plot progress and it has a good ending.

April 6, 2016

Review: Tell the Wind and Fire by Sarah Rees Brennan


Title: Tell the Wind and Fire
Author: Sarah Rees Brennan
Publisher: Clarion Books
Release date: April 5th 2016
Source: Netgalley
Format: eARC

Rating: 2.5/5

Buy onAmazon | B&N | BookDepository
In a city divided between opulent luxury in the Light and fierce privations in the Dark, a determined young woman survives by guarding her secrets.

Lucie Manette was born in the Dark half of the city, but careful manipulations won her a home in the Light, celebrity status, and a rich, loving boyfriend. Now she just wants to keep her head down, but her boyfriend has a dark secret of his own—one involving an apparent stranger who is destitute and despised. Lucie alone knows the young men’s deadly connection, and even as the knowledge leads her to make a grave mistake, she can trust no one with the truth.

Blood and secrets alike spill out when revolution erupts. With both halves of the city burning, and mercy nowhere to be found, can Lucie save either boy—or herself? 

Tell the Wind and Fire is a retelling loosely based on the classic Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.

Personally I do like to read retellings, even if I have not read the original (as in this case) and sometimes I´m lucky enough to read a good book and other times simply I don´t connect with the story or the characters as in this case, even if the story or idea is good.

This book tells the story of Lucie Manette, a 17-year-old girl, she lives in a world where some people have white or light magic and others have black or dark magic; And those with light magic are the ones with the power, the ones that rule, the rich and those who occupy all important government posts, while people with dark magic live in walled cities, live in poverty, darkness and can only exit their city with an special permission from the light magic government. And Lucie was born in Dark New York, but two years before the beginning of the story she manages to escape and now she and her father live in Light New York. Lucie lives a very public life due to her "escape" of the dark city, for which she´s known as the Golden thread in the dark, as well as being the girlfriend of Ethan Stryker, son of one of the most powerful men in Light New York.

At the start of the book the lives of Ethan and Lucie intersect with Carwyn, a young dark city boy, he help them for unknown reasons but due ton him being a dark magician, they do not trust him but Lucie decides to do something nice for him, something that gets out of control and that could put her life in danger if it becomes known, so Lucie decides to keep quiet.

The story does not focus on the romance, as Ethan and Lucie had been dating for years and are completely in love with each other, and she could do almost anything to save him and he for her, but as their love is already established, I did not get to feel their closeness, especially since both keep secrets from each other, powerful secrets that could change everything.

And in the background of the plot a revolution is brewing and somehow this is indirectly linked to Lucie. This could destroy everything she had struggled to achieve, since her main objective is to survive. Lucie during the course of the book tries to save herself, her father, Ethan, her family friends and even Carwyn, so the next quote gives an idea her ultimate goal.
Ethan of the Light city, Carwyn of the Dark, and me, who was born with a foot in each.
This is the tale of who I was able to save.
Tell the Wind and Fire is a retelling that takes place in a dystopian world with magical elements, it has a good start, but after a while it slow its pace and it´s a bit boring, it couldn´t catch my attention, but I forced myself to finish reading it and towards the end it improves a little and it has a sad and abrupt end and I didn´t connect with the main characters. I didn´t enjoy the book.

Book trailer

Waiting On Wednesday: Scarlett Epstein Hates It Here

Waiting On Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted by Breaking the Spine that spotlights upcoming releases that we're eagerly anticipating.

The book I´m waiting this week is

Scarlett Epstein Hates It Here by Anna Breslaw
Release date: April 19th 2016
Meet Scarlett Epstein, BNF (Big Name Fan) in her online community of fanfiction writers, world-class nobody at Melville High. Her best (read: only) IRL friends are Avery, a painfully shy and annoyingly attractive bookworm, and Ruth, her pot-smoking, possibly insane seventy-three-year-old neighbor.

When Scarlett’s beloved TV show is canceled and her longtime crush, Gideon, is sucked out of her orbit and into the dark and distant world of Populars, Scarlett turns to the fanfic message boards for comfort. This time, though, her subjects aren’t the swoon-worthy stars of her fave series—they’re the real-life kids from her high school. Scarlett never considers what might happen if they were to find out what she truly thinks about them...until a dramatic series of events exposes a very different reality than Scarlett's stories, forever transforming her approach to relationships—both online and off.

What book are you waiting this week?
Leave your WOW links

April 4, 2016

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading?

It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is a meme hosted by Book Date.
Each week we spotlight the books we are reading, planning on reading or just finished reading.

Click on the image to look description in Goodreads.

Finished reading
Tell the Wind and Fire by Sarah Rees Brennan (2.5/5 stars)
Flawed (Flawed #1) by Cecelia Ahern (3.5/5 stars)
Soulless (Parasol Protectorate #1) by Gail Carriger (4.5/5 stars)

Currently reading

What I´m going to read next?


What are you reading today?
Leave me your links!